When first period began, Michelle noticed that Amber was absent.
After giving her students their assignment, she sat down to look over her plans for the rest of the week.
Pray, Michelle. Pray hard.
It was as if God had tapped her on the shoulder. What was it? Was He urging her to pray for Maddie? Her heart began to race.
Pray for Amber. Pray now.
Amber? What was it now?
Michelle walked to the back of the classroom where she could see all the kids working. As she leaned against the counter, she stared at Amber’s vacant desk and silently prayed.
Something was very wrong. She could feel it in her spirit.
Returning to her desk, she called the attendance office. In a quiet voice, she asked, “Have you gotten a call this morning about Amber Gamble?”
“Gamble. Let me check.” There was a pause and then, “Nope. Probably truant again.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Michelle shook her head.
Pray Michelle. Keep praying.
While she walked the aisles checking on her students and helping them with the assignment, she continued to pray silently for her troubled student.
“Just go in and talk to them,” Adam said.
Amber stared out the car window at the clinic. Her stomach churned. “I don’t want to do this,” she said.
“What? Go talk to them. What’s that going to hurt?”
“You know what I mean, Adam.” Amber tried to hide her frustration. “Can’t we just talk about it some more?”
“What do you want me to say — that I’m all for quitting school, going to work, and supporting you and a baby? I’m only seventeen, not twenty-five. I don’t want to give up my friends and my life and start playing house.”
Amber felt like a knife had been jammed into her heart. She avoided looking at him as she shook her head and tried not to cry.
Adam’s voice softened. “I know you’re upset. I get it. No one’s saying you have to make a decision today. Just go in and talk to them.”
She nodded.
“I’ll go with you if you want.”
“No. I’ll go by myself.” She pushed open the car door and got out. Without looking back, she walked into the clinic.
The entire day, Michelle’s mind kept flitting back and forth between Madison and Amber. She tried to pray whenever she felt her fears rising for her daughter. How was she supposed to concentrate on teaching when Maddie’s very life might be hanging in the balance? And why did she feel such an urgency to pray for Amber?
To top it off, a student’s parent left a hostile voice mail on her school line. The boy had been disrupting class for several weeks and was non-responsive to all the measures Michelle had tried. She’d called his mom and left a message informing her of his behavior and asking for back up from home. Instead, the mother’s message indicated that she blamed Michelle for her son’s actions.
“He’s an angel in all his other classes,” she claimed. “He’s never had problems at school until your class. I think you’ve just decided to use him as an example rather than to examine your own shortcomings.”
Michelle was stunned. She’d never gotten this type of feedback from a parent in the past. She decided to turn to Cassie for advice. Surely she’d know what Michelle should do now.
“Are you okay, Michelle?” Cassandra asked, as Michelle walked into her room during break.
“No, actually I’m not.” Michelle’s eyes blurred with tears.
“Sit down. Let’s talk,” Cassie replied, gesturing toward a chair next to her desk. “Tell me what’s up.”
Michelle began by pouring out her heart about Madison and the test results they were awaiting.
“I had no idea. You didn’t mention any of this to me, did you?”
“No. It’s all happened so fast. I couldn’t believe it when the doctor said the word leukemia.”
“How long did you say the test results take? A week?”
“At least a week for the blood test. Then we might have to do more tests.”
“I’m so sorry. How can I help?” Cassie asked.
“Nothing for now. In the meantime, I came to talk to you about something else. I’ve got a parent who left me a very accusatory voicemail claiming I’m the cause of her son’s disruptive behavior.”
“Oh, brother.”
Michelle reached over, picked up the phone on Cassie’s desk and dialed her voicemail box. She handed the receiver to Cassie. “Listen.”
Cassie rolled her eyes and shook her head as the message played in her ear. “Michelle, this lady’s wacko. You can tell by her voice and her accusations that, in her mind, her little darling can do no wrong.”
“So what am I supposed to do?”
“First, don’t take it personally. Like I said, she’s a wacko. Next, contact all of this boy’s other teachers. Find out the real scoop about how he’s doing in their classes.”
Michelle nodded. “Good idea.”
“And talk to Ron. This mom sounds like one who will probably be storming into the office to complain if her son gets anything other than a stellar grade in your class, especially for citizenship.”
Michelle sighed. “Okay. Will do.”
“We all get calls like this from time to time, Michelle. It’s not you. Some parents just don’t accept the fact that their junior high kids are not the perfect little students they may have been in elementary school. Kids change. And if they’re ever going to push the envelope, it will be in junior high. If you let this mom intimidate you, and you back down with this boy, you’ll be sending him a message that will create ripples for a long time.”
“Yeah. You’re right. I just wish I didn’t have to deal with this on top of everything else.”
Cassie nodded sympathetically. “Speaking of students, how’s Amber Gamble doing these days?” she asked.
Michelle told her about the bridges she had begun to build with Amber, including their successful park day.
“That’s great. You are really making headway with her,” Cassie replied, smiling.
“I hope. But I’m kind of concerned about her today. She asked to meet with me yesterday, but then didn’t show up for our lunch appointment. When she came by after school, I was in a hurry to get to the pediatrician’s office. We rescheduled for today, but she’s absent.” Michelle paused. “Something’s really wrong. I can feel it.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me. Hopefully she’ll be back tomorrow, and you can get to the bottom of it.”
The bell rang, signaling the end of their break.
“Don’t worry about that phone call, Michelle. I mean it. There are lots of crazies out there. Just do what you know is right. And don’t forget to talk to the other teachers and Ron. I’m sure they’ll reinforce what I said.”
“Thanks, Cassie. I will.” She stood and headed back to her classroom.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Amber sat on the edge of the examining table hugging her body as the doctor spoke of her options. Halloween decorations of skeletons and spider webs with giant tarantulas added to the macabre mood.
“A simple D & C procedure might still be possible. There’s no need for your parents to give consent,” she explained.
Amber nodded.
The doctor seemed to take this as an affirmative decision on her part. “The girl at the front desk can set up an appointment for you. You’ll need someone to drive you home afterward, but you should be fine to go to school in a day or two.”
“Wait,” Amber heard herself say.
“Yes?”
“What if I decide to have the baby?” she asked.
“Well, that’s a pretty big decision. Having a baby is a life-changing event, Amber. At your age, I’d recommend against it. You still have school to finish.” She flipped through the paperwork on the clipboard in her hand. “You’re only fourteen years old. Very few girls would want to be saddled with a baby to care for at your age.”
Amber looked away and gazed out
the window. “I’ll think about it.”
“Okay, you do that. But don’t wait too long. The later in your pregnancy that you terminate, the more complicated it becomes.” The woman put her hand on Amber’s shoulder. “This is just one of those difficult situations that we can easily resolve.”
“Like I said, I’ll think about it.”
The doctor nodded and excused herself to see her next patient.
Amber scooted off the examining table and quickly dressed again. She was eager to get out of the clinic. Something about it made her nausea even worse.
As she walked out the front door, a girl who looked to be about nineteen or twenty walked up to Amber and held out a brochure. “You might be interested in this,” she said.
Amber took the brochure and glanced at the cover. Living Water Ministries, Hope for Women in Crisis Pregnancies. She felt her face flush with embarrassment. Quickly stuffing the brochure into her bag, she thanked the girl and hurried over to Adam’s car.
When she opened the door, he pulled the ear buds from his iPod out of his ears and sat up from a slouched position. “So, how’d it go?” he asked.
“I’m definitely pregnant. The doctor said I’m still early enough to …” Amber’s voice broke, and she started crying.
Adam just stared at her. He looked completely lost.
“Sorry,” she said, trying to pull herself together. “Can we talk about this later?”
“Sure. Whatever you say.” Adam started the car and backed out of the parking space. “Want to go home?”
“Can we go to the beach?”
“Yeah,” he replied.
They sat watching the waves for a while, neither speaking a word. Finally, Adam asked, “What did that girl give you?”
“What girl?”
“The one in front of the clinic.”
Amber reached into her bag and pulled out the brochure. She handed it to him.
“Looks like a church thing,” he said. “Probably some propaganda.”
“Let me see it,” she replied, holding out her hand. As she read through the inside content, the icy cold grip on her heart started to melt away, and for the first time she began to feel hope.
“So what does it say?” he asked.
“It’s about alternatives to abortion.”
“That’s what I thought. Propaganda.”
Amber tried to hold onto the relief she’d felt a moment before, in spite of Adam’s cynical response. “Why do you say that? Isn’t it possible that there are other things we could do?”
“Like what? I already told you I’m not ready to be a dad. We’re not getting married, Amber, or anything crazy like that.”
“Yeah. You made that pretty clear,” she replied bitterly. “But maybe I could put the baby up for adoption.”
“Man, Amber, what is it with you? You’re too young to have a baby. Do you really want everyone in school to know that you got pregnant in eighth grade??”
“No, but I did, Adam. I just feel bad for the baby.”
“What baby? It’s not a baby yet, Amber. That’s the whole point,” Adam said, exasperation raising the volume of his voice.
“Maybe not to you. Maybe not to that doctor in the clinic. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a baby to me.” Amber started crying again. “Maybe you should just take me home.” She got up and started walking back to the car.
“Wait a minute. Don’t just walk away from me like that. This is my kid we’re talking about here. I should have a say in this, too,” Adam said, strutting through the sand toward her. “Amber, stop.”
She stopped and turned to look at him.
“Think about this,” he urged. “You’ve heard the stories about how adopted kids go looking for their real parents. They show up on their doorsteps twenty years later, and then everything gets messed up. Do you want to take a chance of having that happen to you someday?”
Amber couldn’t speak. She didn’t have the answers for his questions. All she knew was that the brochure from Living Waters had given her a feeling that somehow things could work out all right. She definitely didn’t have that feeling at the clinic.
“I can’t talk about this right now, Adam. I just want to go home.”
He shook his head and followed her to the car.
“Living Waters, Lisa speaking,” the voice on the other end of the phone said.
“Uh, hi,” Amber began. “I, uh, wanted to get some information about your place.”
“Sure. How can I help you?” The voice sounded young, and she seemed friendly and safe.
“Well… I was wondering if you help teenagers, too.”
“Everyday. We don’t have any age requirements for our services.”
Amber breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, well, I’m only fourteen. But if you don’t have any age requirements, I guess that’s okay, right?”
“Absolutely. Would you like to give me your name?” Lisa asked.
Amber hesitated for a moment.
As if reading her mind, she added, “First name is fine.”
“Okay. Yeah. It’s Amber.”
“Can you tell me a little about your circumstances, Amber?”
“I’m about seven weeks pregnant. I wanted to find out about adoption.” Although she felt nervous, Amber sensed she could trust this place.
“Okay. We can help you with that. Would you like to come in and talk with one of our counselors? They can guide you through all your options,” she added.
“Yeah. That sounds good. Afternoons would be best. After school, like around four.”
“We can do that. How does tomorrow sound? We have a counselor available at four thirty. You’re welcome to bring a parent or friend with you, if you’d like.”
“Can I talk to my boyfriend and call you back? I need to find out if he can give me a ride over,” Amber explained.
“Sure. We’ll be open until seven tonight and again in the morning at ten.”
“Okay. I’ll call back after I talk to him.” As Amber flipped her cell phone shut, she started to cry. But these tears were tears of relief.
Hopefully Adam would agree to take her to Living Waters tomorrow and she could find out what she needed to know to make her decision.
“I’m not going to any church place that’s going to try to talk you into having this kid, Amber,” Adam said the next day. “You’re crazy to even think about this.”
“It’s not a church. It’s just a crisis pregnancy center.”
“You know what I mean. All those places are run by churches. And they have one goal – to lay a guilt trip on you so you don’t have an abortion.”
Amber turned away, but he grabbed her arm. Spinning back to face him, she said, “Don’t you feel bad for the baby? Don’t you care about it at all?”
“Don’t start with me, Amber. You know it’s not a baby yet.”
“How do you know? You’ve seen those pictures in the science books. They look like babies to me,” she retorted.
“They talked to you about this at the clinic already, remember? They said it was just tissue.”
“Whatever,” Amber replied sarcastically.
“Yeah. Whatever,” he parroted back to her. “You do whatever you want, Amber. It’s your body. But don’t expect me to be part of your fantasy about becoming a mom. ‘Cause I’m not going to throw away my life for some kid when I’m only in high school.”
“Thanks for the help. Guess I’ll have to find another way to get there,” she said, turning and walking away.
Adam did not follow.
Michelle noticed the red light flashing on her cell phone as she forced herself to eat her lunch. The pending blood test results for Madison had her stomach in knots these days, but her lack of sleep, coupled with no food, would leave her completely depleted for her afternoon classes.
Pulling up the home screen of her phone, she saw the text indicating that she had voicemail. A moment later, she was listening to a message from the nurse at Dr. Gold’s office.
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“Madison’s blood work is in, and Dr. Gold has consulted with a hematologist, who would like to order further testing. Please call Dr. Morris to schedule a bone marrow test. His office is expecting your call, and they will be able to see you this week.”
Michelle’s heart stopped. Bone marrow test? Pediatric hematologist? She’d spent the past week trying to convince herself that all of Maddie’s blood work would come back normal, and that she was worrying for nothing.
Now her hands trembled as she dialed the doctor’s office. The switchboard answered her call, saying that Dr. Gold’s office was closed for lunch. She’d have to wait until after school.
She tried to call Steve on his cell phone, but he didn’t pick up. I’ve got to talk to someone, she thought, panic threatening to overtake her.
As if in immediate response to her cries, God’s presence enveloped her. She closed her eyes, now brimming with tears, and began to pray in ways she’d never prayed before — prayers of desperation from the heart of a mom.
She remembered how God had taken her through the crisis with her father’s suicide attempt. He’d also faithfully answered her prayers for a child in the face of her husband’s infertility. And He’d opened a door for her ministry at Magnolia Middle School at a time when it was almost impossible to find a teaching position anywhere.
I know the plans I have for you, Michelle. They are plans for good and not for evil. Plans to give you hope and a future.
Her favorite verse from Jeremiah replayed in her mind over and over as she grasped for a promise from God, something she could cling to through the possible trauma awaiting her.
“Please, God – don’t let it be cancer,” she begged.
Another verse from Proverbs spoke to her heart. Trust in me with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. I will direct your path.
Peace washed over her. A confident assurance that God would be with them replaced the panic she’d felt just moments earlier. Surely He would get them through this. Somehow.
Into Magnolia (Sandy Cove Series Book 3) Page 11